Wisdom from the Desert Devotionals

by L B Cowman

Heart's Sacrifice

"But what things were gain to me, those I counted
loss for Christ" (Phil. 3:7).

When they buried the blind preacher, George Matheson, they lined his grave with
red roses in memory of his love-life of sacrifice. And it was this man, so
beautifully and significantly honored, who wrote,
"O Love that wilt not let me go,
I rest my weary soul in Thee,
I give Thee back the life I owe,
That in thine ocean depths its flow
May richer, fuller be.

"O Light that followest all my way,
I yield my flickering torch to Thee,
My heart restores its borrowed ray,
That in Thy sunshine's blaze its day
May brighter, fairer be.
"O Joy that seekest me through pain,
I cannot close my heart to Thee,
I trace the rainbow through the rain,
And feel the promise is not vain,
That morn shalt tearless be.

"O Cross that liftest up my head,
I dare not ask to fly from Thee,
I lay in dust life's glory dead,
And from the ground there blossoms red,
Life that shall endless be."

There is a legend of an artist who had found the secret of a wonderful red which
no other artist could imitate. The secret of his color died with him. But after
his death an old wound was discovered over his heart. This revealed the source
of the matchless hue in his pictures. The legend teaches that no great
achievement can be made, no lofty attainment reached, nothing of much value to
the world done, save at the cost of heart's blood.